A little something cheesy…

In an ideal world, peanut butter would be a food group. There, I said it. Peanut butter makes the world go round, and if you love it as much as I do, then you’ll know that it’s best added to (almost) everything.

This insatiable love for peanut butter is rivaled by, wait for it… cheesecake. Whether it’s baked (stick around for my baked marbled chocolate cheesecake) or of the fridge variety like this one, cheesecakes speak to me. Like that kid from “The Sixth Sense,” cheesecakes are my dead people, I see them, I feel them and I always know when there’s one close by. This Peanut Butter Bliss Cheesecake combines them both. It’s the ultimate tribute in honour of two food of my heroes. To put it plainly, if this recipe were a song, it’d be “Drunk in Love” by Beyonce because this cheesecake is what it is. Smooth, sexy, sultry and so good it’s almost forbidden. Eat your heart out Jay-Z…

My late dad was a fan of this cheesecake. Probably because he had sweet teeth, yes teeth… all of them. He also liked to eat peanut butter straight out of the jar with a spoon. Shout out to my pops! This one’s for you, and everybody else who loves them some cheesecake.

In the world of creamed cheeses, it’s important to remember that not all cheeses are created equal. Philadelphia reigns king, but should you find yourself unable to get it in stores, any full fat cream cheese will do. Lancewood (in South Africa) is a close second and has always done the trick when my faithful Philly was in hiding.

The peanut brittle topping is homemade, but should you be a one trick pony and feel that making the cheesecake alone is good enough, you may use store bought (I won’t tell if you don’t!) I never do, *cough cough* but the homemade brittle adds that little bit of love that I can assure you, won’t ever go unnoticed.

You’ll need a springform tin for this. Should you want to make the cheesecake deeper, just double the cheesecake topping ingredients. I often do this if I have many gluttonous mouths to feed, or if the gluttonous mouth is mine and I want to be sure that I’ll have left over for myself… Sadly, this seldom happens and the last time I made this, I forgot to take an end photo before serving. This left me fending off cake forks wildly, in an attempt to get a shot for this post. In short, I risked my life. You’re welcome.

So without any further delay, I present to you, Peanut Butter Bliss Cheesecake.

Yours in Baking & Bitching, (because “xoxo” was too mainstream)

Bron

Peanut Butter Bliss Cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the base:

200g plain digestive biscuits

75g salted butter (melted)

For the topping:

400g cream cheese

150g castor sugar

4 large egg yolks

6 leaves of gelatine

150g crunchy peanut butter

250ml cream

For the brittle:

100g roasted, unsalted peanuts

200g castor sugar

20ml water

Method:

1. Line a 23cm springform tin with baking paper.

2. Crush the biscuits to crumbs either in a food processor or keep it “old school” with a zip lock bag and rolling pin.

3. Add the melted butter to crumbs and press into the bottom of the springform tin. Chill in the fridge for about half an hour.